


in the eye of the storm

by bikenesmith



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-07
Updated: 2015-03-07
Packaged: 2018-03-16 16:15:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3494801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bikenesmith/pseuds/bikenesmith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"erwin?" levi calls back, his voice shaky and wrecked, hoping this isn't a joke, or a trick, or a mirage. perhaps he's tired, and hearing things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	in the eye of the storm

**Author's Note:**

> bc ch 67 destroyed me. thank you kelsey for beta-ing orz

rod's titan is huge, smoking, and emits waves of heat so powerful levi breaks out in sweats immediately. the way it walks - crawls, scuttles - creeps him out. he wants to look away, or at least just stare straight ahead, but he needs to keep an eye on it in case it tries anything funny.

sweat rolls down his back, and he grimaces. he hates it. he hates the reisses, he hates that stupid cavern and the fact that he'd almost died in there, he hates the fact that he doesn't know what happened to kenny, and hates that the thought of that makes his stomach twist slightly.

"stop right now! rod, you midget - " eren cuts himself off abruptly, shooting a quick glance at levi with wide eyes. it goes over levi's head, so he just shoots a look back at eren, eyebrows furrowed.

hanji says something, distracting eren from whatever impending doom he'd been expecting, and levi gazes over at rod's titan again. the whole situation's become increasingly discombobulated and levi's constantly finding himself lost. he knows what their options are, but he feels like a broken compass spinning between following rod's titan, and rushing to wall maria, and finding the two escaped titan shifters.

levi's head jolts to the side. he hears something, something that's not the burning and crackling of trees, or eren's yelling.

galloping. hoovesteps. a horse.

it's fast, and coming from a dark section of the trees that have not yet caught flame. levi takes a hand off the reigns and lets it fall to the hilt of his right sword, a call of warning ready on his lips.

"levi."

levi's breath catches in his throat, and his hands close into fists, scraping against the material of his sword hilt. that's - it's not. is it? he stares into the darkness as the sound of galloping coming from it slows.

a smooth baritone voice, even and always controlled, dark green and mellow blue.

"erwin?" levi calls back, his voice shaky and wrecked, hoping this isn't a joke, or a trick, or a mirage. perhaps he's tired, and hearing things.

but he isn't. erwin comes into view, face lit by the flames licking the trees to his right. levi stares for what feels like hours - mapping erwin's face again, taking note of the blue of his eyes, the bruises and swelling around his eyebrows and eyelids, the sharp cut of his cheekbones, his protruding nose, his soft lower lip. his eyes tell him it's erwin, and that he appears to be sentient and alive and breathing, but levi feels an urge to _touch_ him, _feel_ him, make _sure_.

"commander!" eren says, or doesn't, levi doesn't really know, because he can't focus beyond erwin, doesn't hear much besides "levi" echoing in his ears.

erwin turns, looks at levi, meets his eyes for a moment. levi looks back, wants to say something - something that always gets stuck halfway up his throat and congeals there like blood.

"how is everyone?" erwin asks.

and levi remembers. he remembers the group of brats in the carriages behind him, and hanji's injured shoulder, and the giant fucking smoking titan scuttling through the grass. he remembers that he's a captain, and erwin's commander, and what they're expected to do.

"only hanji's wounded," he says. swallows hard. tries to send what he had what wanted to say back down his throat. sweat rolls down his back again.

"heeeey, erwin!" hanji calls, and levi hears the sound of them sitting up, and knows they're grinning.

"it doesn't look serious," erwin comments.

he looks over them, scans them from levi back to sasha in that _fucking_ analytical calm way he does, and it's so familiar levi wants to scream. his eyes fall back to levi and he looks at him for a moment longer, eyes clear blue and open.

"you did a good job."

levi stares at him, feeling like he's about to burst, because that means something, and it's been too fucking long since erwins looked at him like that, since erwin's looked at him at _all_ , and the thing in his throat burns, and he says,

"eren's screaming isn't working."

erwin watches him, attentive. and it's _right_. to anyone else, except maybe hanji, it's just erwin commending his captain for a job well done. there's no need for levi to do anything besides report.

"i have countless things to report to you, but first..."

"who's that titan?" erwin asks.

"rod reiss," levi answers. erwin's eyebrows rise slightly.

"i need your opinion." he pauses, looks back at erwin. "commander."

* * *

the plan is a simple one, in levi's mind. it's not much more than what the obtruding parts of the walls' purposes already _are_ \- to attract titans to a few enclosed spaces rather than all over the place. of course there are negotiations and evacuation plans to be made, and erwin, levi, hanji, moblit, and a few others are cramped into the barrack-kitchen-made-makeshift-conference room in the dead of night. eren had fainted some time after they had arrived, and armin and mikasa had towed him off for a few hours rest. the other three dispersed soon after, murmuring about rations and weaponry, and historia had been led off to a safe house.

now, hanji balances a melting ice pack between their face and shoulder, their wounds bandaged tightly underneath it. erwin draws plans on dirty pieces of parchment by a rusty sink, his strokes jagged due to an unpracticed hand. levi awaits his orders.

"levi," erwin says. "you no longer have to be here."

levi looks up sharply. what?

"i need you to be rested for tomorrow," erwin elaborates. "you must be tired, and there's no need for you to stay up with us at the moment. this is just negotiations with the garrison."

"oh," levi replies. and he realizes that he _is_ tired. what feels like every one of his joints ache, his eyelids are heavy, and he's starting to get a slight headache. not to mention the fact that he's been wearing the same clothes for three days and feels disgusting.

"yeah," he says, slipping off the counter he'd been sitting on.

"nighty night," hanji calls after him.

levi doesn't think he'll sleep, but he waves his hand dismissively at them and leaves the room. the rooms the survey corps had "rented" from the garrison (more like forcibly occupied) were across the building, and levi starts the long trek in that direction, ignoring his protesting body.

erwin had told levi he'd be occupying room 31, muttered under his breath on the way into the walls. levi expects he won't even return to the room tonight, thanks to erwin being a workaholic.

levi feels a slight pang, remembering back when it was just them and the rest in a crumbling dirty castle, levi supervising training drills, hanji talking about titans in gross detail at dinner time, erwin working himself to sleep, levi kissing the side of his cheek and carrying him off to bed, erwin catching him alone, erwin having levi for himself over his desk, pushing papers off onto the floor -

levi's in front of room 31 before he knows it. he swallows down his thoughts, unlocks the door, and side steps inside. with the controversies surrounding the corps, he wouldn't be surprised if an assassin was hiding within the room.

he throughly searches the room until he's satisfied. it's nicer than the regular barracks - it has a bed with real blankets, a cabinet, and a shower. the shower catches levi's eye the most.

levi goes to lock the door, takes off his gear, and starts stripping. the clothing stuck to his skin with sweat, grime, and blood, and he grimaces, folding them off in a corner. he glares in the mirror for a moment, taking in his messy black hair and the permanent scars crisscrossing his brown skin.

levi takes a hilt, attaches a blade, and sets it outside the shower door before stepping inside.

he scrubs himself down under the weak spray of water, with a sponge that feels more like a stone and some bland-smelling soap. it's not good, but it's not bad either. levi would much rather suffer bad water pressure than continue on in the grimey state he'd been in.

he's turned off the shower and is listening to the sound of water dripping from his hair, when he hears a noise from beyond the bathroom. his head whips up and he grabs for the towel, running it through his hair and over his body quickly. he pulls on a shirt hanging by the wall and grabs the sword.

levi quietly inches into the room, back flat against a cabinet. he hears the front door close and lock. he tightens his grip on the hilt.

footsteps. they come near. stop. move again. they're heavy, familiar, but levi never lets his guard down.

"levi?"

levi lets his blade fall slightly and turns so he's just visible from behind the cabinet. he looks at erwin, verifies it's him, and moves into the open.

"i almost didn't think you'd come," erwin says. he doesn't seem surprised by the sword, and why would he be? he, better than anyone, knows what kind of danger this job poses.

levi shrugs. "needed a shower."

erwin gazes at him. "i see."

and levi realizes he's wearing only a shirt, one that comes down to his knees, and of fucking course it's erwin's shirt.

he grunts, sits on the bed and pouts, because he can.

"how were the negotiations?" he asks.

"fine. the garrison are not unreasonable. i don't doubt we will be confronted in the morning again, though."

levi clicks his tongue. "stupid bastards. what else can we do?"

erwin smiles minutely and moves to the bed. he sits beside him and levi feels the bed depress slightly.

"not everybody trusts in me as much as you do."

levi swallows.

"i'm....." erwin pauses, eyebrows furrowed. "i am very glad that you are alive."

and that fucking does it, and levi can't stop himself from throwing himself in erwin's direction, pressing his chapped lips to erwin's soft ones. erwin responds, licking levi's mouth open, and biting and kissing the way he knows levi loves. levi's hands claw at erwin's back, one hanging into his belts, one fisted in his shirt, pulling erwin to himself, because no one will take him away from him again. erwin grunts, leaning on his hand to hold himself up.

they kiss until they both can't breathe, and erwin pulls away first, breathing hard. he doesn't look like he can form words, and instead gazes at levi with wide blue eyes that say everything.

levi loosens his grip at erwins back and lets one hand move to erwin's chest. erwin's heart beats, a little fast. he's warm. he's _alive_.

"i'm glad you're alive too," levi murmurs. his voice doesn't even sound like his own.

erwin kisses levi's ear and spreads his kisses farther down. they sit there, wrapped up in each other. levi wonders how ridiculous they look, him in nothing but a too-big shirt, erwin rumpled and dirty, with his shirt half pulled out of it's tuck.

the thing in levi's throat burns again.

"how much time do we have?" levi asks. erwin's kissing at his neck now, each kiss burning like fire.

"two hours or so," erwin answers, sitting up. he turns to look at the window, which curtain's are shut. "it hasn't begun to get light outside."

"can we - "

"yes."

"do you - "

" _yes_."

"you fucker. did you plan this?"

"no," erwin answers. he unbuttons what little of levi's - erwin's - shirt that levi had buttoned. "this room is usually occupied by garrison officers, and they always have some supplies on hand. actually, i thought - " he bites his lip.

"oi. you thought what?" levi prompts. erwins arms circle around his waist.

"i thought you may be angry with me," erwin finishes.

"what the fuck," levi says. erwin's thumb caresses levi's face, and he bites at it. "why would i be angry with you?"

erwin's silent, looking slightly away.

"if this is about...i don't know, the job, i don't want to hear it."

"but - "

"we both knew what we were getting into here." levi thinks of the gutter, of blood, of rain. "and when i said i was going to follow you, i meant it."

erwin looks at him like he's valuable, and bites the inside of his mouth. "levi, i - "

"i know. i fucking know." levi lays back on the bed. "now touch me."

it's quick, and it has to be, but it feels as good as always. erwin works him open with thick fingers, prodding him all the right places, running his hand over levi's cock and watching him squirm. levi's gasping when erwin pushes inside him, and is moaning when erwins thrusting, pressing into his prostate with strong precise thrusts. erwin gasps above him, caressing and kissing his face, telling him how good he is and levi whimpers and pleads and believes it for once. he calls erwin's name, eyes shut tight, and moans something incoherent about how much he missed him.

his hand finds erwin's wrist and squeezes it as he jerks and cums all over his stomach. erwin follows soon after him, and levi feels whole.

levi groans when erwin pulls out, protests when he leave the bed to throw away the condom, and hums when he returns. erwin curls his arm around him, and kisses his neck. he's brought a towel with him, and levi cleans himself off.

"we need to get ready," erwin says, when he's finished.

"fuck," levi groans, still feeling fucked out and not keen on moving.

"maybe we shouldn't have," erwin says, teasing in his voice. "i seem to have tired you out."

"fuck you," levi grunts.

"maybe next time," erwin hums.

" _erwin_ ," levi says, but he's smiling, or at least sneering.

levi lays there, stroking erwin's hair, knowing that they definitely have to get up soon, and that they will have to face the titan in less than an hour.

but he looks at erwins face, still bruised and slightly swollen, but beautiful, and doesn't feel afraid. he has never felt afraid, not when he has someone like erwin beside him, whether he's there physically or not. he trusts in himself, and he trusts in erwin.

erwin is hope, and truth, and strength, and is also bad jokes and dusty books and ink, and is with levi, just as levi is with him.

"come on. commander. big shot." erwin smiles against levi's skin. "time to fight the good fight. into the mouths of titans and all."

erwin nods and rises. they get dressed, and put on their gear. levi ties off erwin's sleeve, sharpens his blades, and makes the bed. it's almost like what normal people do, he says aloud. erwin chuckles, and levi clicks his tongue at him.

levi and erwin go together to the door.

"i need to meet with hanji. we'll all meet in the barracks dining hall at 04:30 and then head for the walls." his voice has changed slightly, and levi knows he's readying himself for the battle. because erwin can be erwin with levi, but the moment he steps outside, the moment he reaches the wall he must be commander erwin smith.

"roger," levi says. i love you, he thinks.

erwin turns to him, as if he's read his thoughts, and bends to kiss him on the cheek.

"you'll survive." erwin murmurs.

"you will too," levi answers and angles his head to kiss erwin's mouth.

erwin allows it for a moment before pulling away and leading levi out into the dark corridor.


End file.
